The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe

Our stay began and ended with Tom. He is a bell hop, but that term does not fit. He is more like the ambassador of the Ritz at Tahoe. He was personable & very knowledgable about the resort and its offerings. We dined at Manzanita. Though pricey, you are getting what you pay for. Outstanding service, innovative cuisine and beautiful ambience. We stayed two nights at the resort & had dinner at Manzanita both evenings. Zach Hunter, the maitre d was friendly, chock full of suggestions & recommendations not only for dinner but books and dogs. Quite the conversationalist.
The first night Kristin was our server. She was the epitome of the perfect server, being available when needed but totally unobtrusive. She was spot on with her recommendations of sea scallops & rack of lamb.
The second evening our server was Allie. She was also professional & there without being invasive. Kristin was also in the restaurant that evening and stopped to chat & check on us. Both evenings we were greeted by name by the Chef. I totally appreciate the time he took to meet us and ask how we liked our meal.
On day two, I indulged in a hot stone massage with Jennie. I didn’t realize how many knots I had in my back. Jennie was an awesome therapist applying just the right amount of pressure and heat.
Overall our stay was phenomenal and I would suggest this resort to anyone who wants to be pampered.

So. We are sitting here on the slope side deck. Great setting, great day. BUT! Issues with food and server attitude. Requested manger to get involved and Emma Carrolls showed up and explained everything and set everything right. She is an asset to a world class property and set everything right. Because of her, and this absolutely beautiful property, we will be back.

I’m very conflicted on the rating. It’s definitely at least a 4 star experience for a 5 star resort. But let me get to why the 3 star rating. Depending on where you’re at in the resort, you’ll feel warmth from the workers, or a feeling of coldness and a feeling of being squeezed out of every last dime.
The Ritz is located pretty much on the Northstar Ski Resort meaning you can ski in and out of the hotel which was a HUGE plus because we basically just went straight to the lifts instead of having to ride a gondola up.
Getting to the Ritz was fairly easy, just don’t follow the Northstar resort signs once you get off of the freeway. Go one street after you see the sign to get to Northstar called Highlands. It will take some time to get to the resort on this mountain curving road. The Ritz will be a turn to the left and you drive straight to the entrance.
Parking is only valet. Yes ONLY valet and it costs $ 39 for an overnight parking. Day parking is $ 30.
Now, here’s the tricky part. They will ask if you want help to get your bags to your room. From each of the people I talked to who did this option, it took almost 15 – 20 minutes for them to get their bags there. We didn’t have much so we ended up just bringing them ourselves. So unless you’re in a hurry to get out of your room or if you have a ton of bags, don’t opt for the service.
Next is the Mountain Concierge. It’s $ 100 a day to store your snow gear and have them heat up your boots. We got lucky and the prize we won had this service included. I’m sure you can have your stuff in your room, but I’m sure they’re stare you down and poopoo you as I felt looked down upon as we walked around the resort in our boots. Also they don’t check ID when taking gear. Just a last name.unsafe.
The service at the main desk felt cold, a bit snooty in fact that I was asking them all these questions about what was charged and what was not. It’s like I didn’t do research already, cause I called them and looked at the website which wasn’t really helpful. I asked for a fridge for the room and the request wasn’t done. By the way, you can ask for a fridge and it’s free of charge.
Getting to rooms can be a mess cause they have a long hallway which explains why bags can take forever to be delivered. The room we got was a Deluxe King w/​a mountain view. Guess what, you don’t really get a mountain view if there are trees which we got basically a view of the trees and people walking to and from the gondola.
The room was spacious with a huge king bed, two chairs, a desk, lots of storage for clothes and such. The fireplace was nice and the TV was not too bad. There was also a Nespresso machine and a mini bar. The bathroom was nice with a huge tub, toilet and shower. Only huge downside was that there was no fan in the bathroom which is a big pet peeve of mine. They did have LOTS of towels and extra bedding which was nice. There was a nice little balcony as well. Now what I didn’t expect was the thin walls. We heard our next door neighbor snoring through the night as well as their kids running around in their room.
During our stay, our food at the event we were at were basically covered in oil. The scrambled herb eggs had pools of butter. The bacon was nice and crisp. The chicken sausage mushy. The mini pastries especially the mini bear claws were a nice touch.
Every day at 4:30pm there’s Marshmology where you’re supposed to learn how to create the perfect S’more, but they don’t really teach you anything. There are three workers, one who gives you a stick with two marshmallows (the standard large marshmallow and the day we did it was a spicy homemade marshmallow), and the other two help place the marshmallows on the graham cracker and hershey bar. My advice, stick to the standard non-​homemade as the homemade marshmallow, although quite tasty, does not toast as well and melts more than it toasts. It’s good for the kids and the big kids like us, but I wish they did have someone teach you how to do it. It’s only 30 minutes long and they are quite punctual about it.
The Living Room and the Fire Pit areas felt like you couldn’t sit there without ordering something. So I felt like I was being made to pay for services even though I just wanted to sit in front of the fire and just enjoy the ambiance. So I ended up just having to run off after being asked if we wanted anything.
The Highlands Gondola is a nice way to get to and from the Ritz and the Village. The only downside is that it’s so slow. you have to always give yourself at least 10 – 15 minutes leeway to get to and from.
So I get it. It’s the Ritz. The nightly rate for the cheapest room is ~$ 450 and you have to pay an additional $ 29 resort fee so you can use the fitness and spa. It feels like you’re paying one fee on top of another that it makes it hard for anyone but those who are well off to stay at this resort. Although nice, I would probably end up never coming back again unless we win a trip or if we really want to splurge.

Just got back from ski week up at the Ritz.
One of the worst experiences yet at a hotel. And at a Ritz!!! Kinda unheard of.
So I was charged 2 dinners and 1 lunch on my room that were not my charges.
The maid came into my room w the privacy sign on the door and then to top off the trip when we were leaving the valet packed my car with someone else’s $ 1,000 dollar brand new skis!
Things you don’t expect when you pay top dollar for a hotel and get motel experience!

Apres snowboarding stop at the Highlands Bar Ritz-​Carlton. The staff here make it truly live up to its reputation — especially Kylie (thank you so much!) who was incredibly nice with my boot situation.
5 Stars — Service. People here will do what is needed to help you. The Ritz sets the example as a best practice for anyone in the industry.
5 Stars — food and drinks. The Highlands bar has a great variety of perfect winter drinks. Some of our favorites were the snowblower and chair lift. For Food we had the nachos and some guacamole with chips. Light bites overall but the overall selection and quality were fantastic.
Will definitely come back.

We never would have stayed here, if it wasn’t for our Marriott rewards points! The cost to stay here is ridiculous if you ask me!
I did really enjoy the stay. The room was nicely decorated. The tv, in room fireplace, balcony, and lavish bathroom were all very nice. The toiletries, and Nescafé coffee were really wonderful. The bed was very comfy. In all it was really pretty great to spend NYE and New yrs morning here!

Kudos to Mario, Javier, and Toni of the Club Lounge. They tended to our every need (well, more desires than needs), and Tony watched our poodle and brought him water while Javier got a box to go with assorted desserts for my wife and me to enjoy in our room. Hope I’m not getting the staff in trouble for saying this.
Also kudos to Parker of the TrueNorth rental place for letting me change my snowboard THREE times!
The hotel even had a dog bed ready for us when we arrived with Steve the poodle.
As you may assume by reading my previous Unilocal reviews, I sometimes have a harder time finding praise than complaints. In this case I could find absolutely nothing to complain about. The staff here just simply nailed every aspect of our stay, flawlessly.
Can’t wait to return next year.

This was our first time staying at The Ritz and we absolutely loved it! First off, we decided that since it was our first time we might as well go all out and we stayed in a Club Level King Room. For those of you unfamiliar with a club level room you basically have access to a club lounge with a dedicated concierge that can help you with any of your needs and continuous complimentary food offered throughout the day. The lounge was spacious, posh, had gorgeous views, delicious food and an excellent and attentive wait staff. We brought our 9 month old son and when we arrived to our room there was a crib set up with a baby blanket, rubber ducky and Johnson & Johnson travel set. I liked the fruit infused water stations throughout the lobby as well as all the activities the resort had to offer. There’s an arcade for kids, a nice pool, bocce court, life size game of jenga, life size game of connect four and my favorite the Marshmology, where a marshmologist goes over the «Art of S’mores». I like the location and its close proximity to many other activities. The Village at Northstar is just a short drive or gondola ride away where there are many shops, restaurants, mini golf and a skate/​ice rink depending on the time of year. The gondola ride was pretty much the only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5. Since we stayed during the week the gondola that went directly from the hotel to The Village wasn’t running but we could take the gondola that was part of Northstar Ski Resort’s gondola. We had multiple staff in the shop area tell us it was an easy stroll. So, we set out with our flip flops, 9 month old and his stroller… I’ll just say, it was definitely not as easy and convenient as they were saying, particularly because we had the baby and stroller. But other than that we had a great experience and have already been back!

Really is an amazing place to stay. It’s beautiful, cozy, and so convenient for skiing or snowboarding! If you can, go for club level! The club lounge was stocked with so many delicious offerings throughout the day and the free cocktails are a huge bonus. I put my drinks in a paper cup and took them to the pool area.
The downside: my husband and I splurged for the cozy cabin couples massage and it was a major, super expensive, let down. I was cold the entire time. I asked for specific areas to be worked on and the woman barely covered them. She essentially gave me a really in depth leg massage, but my neck and upper back were what I wanted the focus to be on. I left deeply unsatisfied but my husband enjoyed his massage. It was so expensive, I wouldn’t do it again. The spa area is great though. The sauna and steam room and spa were nice to hang out in and relax.
Food in the restaurant was great. No complaints there.
The bath tubs at the ritz are my favorite– so deep. Room service was super accommodating and concierge was knowledgable and just the right level of attentiveness was given.
Overall, our experience here was great and we plan to come back soon for our anniversary and skiing!

Overall, I love this resort. Ski-​in/​ski-​out with valet at Northstar Resort. Accommodations are nice and service is excellent.

Snore
What the heck, the mountain is beautiful
The village is great
The people are awesome
The hotel is so-​so (took 50 minutes to get my luggage and I was the only person checking in)
It’s almost 4pm and housekeeping carts are everywhere in the halls…

After spending the last 4 days here with my family, I would not recommend it to anyone. I’ve been a Marriott member for over 6+ years and have received much better service from Residence Marriotts than the service we received here. The Ritz is supposed to have a «wow factor» this one has a negative «wow» factor. The staff appeared too busy to give the service this place is supposed to be known for. I’m very disappointed because just last week I received better service at a Marriott Residence in Phoenix.
I don’t see any recycling bins, all I do see are the Ritz water bottles empty in the trash everywhere.
One person who did stand out was Nancy Brest, she was working in the fitness center. Nancy was very accommodating and professional.
Other employees with notable 5– star service were those stationed at the gondola located right next to the Ritz headed down to the village. Every time we took a ride the guys were outgoing, professional and very helpful.
I’m appalled that the staff working the front desk were not the highlight of our stay. Often times they couldn’t answer questions or didn’t seem like they genuinely cared about our concerns. Spoke to Celina at the front desk who never called me back about over charging my card.
Tolga the director answered the phone when I called today and also told me he would get back to me by EOD today ¹²⁄₂₉ and never did.
I’m highly disgusted with this entire establishment

We just got back from 5 days at the Ritz in Lake Tahoe and what an amazing time my family had at this wonderful hotel. From the minute we arrived it surpassed our expectations. I have a 9 year old daughter that is on the verge of not believing in Santa Claus anymore so I mentioned this to guest services that we were bringing up her 3 elves on the shelves and was wondering if they could do something special. Well, when we arrived, we «smuggled» the 3 elves to the valet, who passed them on to guest services. 30 minutes later we walked into our room and they had cut snowflakes out and hung them above the kids tent (do the tent if you can for your kids), they had one elf on a zip line going above a mock air baloon made from candy canes, another elf was making snow angels on a tray of icing sugar with cake pops and snowballs (Marshmellows) all around and the 3^rd elf was in the restroom sitting on all the snowballs… needless to say, our daughter could not figure out how they got out of the suitcase and into the room. She loved it and think she actually believed in Christmas magic again. at least for a while. Thank you to the wonderful staff that made this happen.
Also, my wife visited the spa and of course it lived up to all expectation for a spa at the Ritz, but the one thing we loved most about this amazing hotel was what they call «the living room». This is on the lobby level and surrounds a large fireplace. it is such a relaxed area in the hotel, we played family games every night in front of the fire and enjoyed thier chocolate fondue. it was such a cozy, fun family moment, we won’t ever forget. Our daughter actually shared with us that this vacation was the best week of her life…
Kudos to the hotel, their staff and of course the snowstorm that came in the day we arrived to give it that winter/​holiday feel… We have already been talking about returning next year.

When we arrived it was in the middle of a snow storm, road was not very clearly marked as to where to go. Service at the door is pretty good, valet parking is required at a cost of $ 39 per night. In addition to tip and room, taxes, resort fee etc.
We requested an upper floor room with a crib for our 9 month old son. Were put on the lowest possible floor with no crib when we arrived.
We ate a caesar salad, chicken noodle soup, cauliflower bisk soup, veggie wrap and a burger/​fries. ALL were VERY sub par. Especially considering where the food is being served. Ambiance is nice but the food was honestly very poorly presented, portioned and the quality tasted like room service food in cancun.
The best part of the stay was the sheets and toiletries…
The worst part was that they force you to use valet parking but then don’t take responsibility for when they wreck your car. Our vehicle is a 2016 Subaru legacy with very low miles. Was scuff free when I pulled into the Ritz Carlton. When Travis (the valet) handed me my keys the next morning it was about 15 degrees and the car was filthy from driving through snow storm conditions on the way to the resort…
Contacted the Ritz, they passed me on to their valet service which I assume is sub contracted out…
After a few day wait, I was basically told that I was out of luck and sorry for any inconvenience.

I’m obsessed with this hotel! It is pure perfection. It’s so beautiful and all the details are there. Service was very attentive and made sure our stay was excellent. Chocolates every night before bed, cozy fireplace in the bedroom, luxurious bathroom, and a window overlooking the snow. The hotel and the rooms are worth the price. (the restaurant was the only disappointing aspect for me). I also attended a wedding here and to say it was magical would be an understatement — the food in particular was amazing! Mac and cheese station, delicious crêpe station, carving station and pies! I can’t wait to come back here again for a ski trip and do some more exploring around the area.

IMPECCABLE! If they don’t they will for you! Amazing service and property! Very kid friendly. It is an hours drive from Incline Village S. Lake Tahoe so don’t book others over there and yourself here w/​o realizing that. It is the mountains so regardless of season bring long pants and a jacket.

Absolutely fantastic! We stayed here for four nights at the end of July and enjoyed every minute of it. The concierge floor was perfect, as it offered a place for us to relax and enjoy some tasty treats and beverages. The room was excellent as well, with all the amenities you’d expect at the Ritz. We took advantage of the spa and the signature restaurant as well. The spa was outstanding and the restaurant was good, but not anything I’d say is «special.» The grounds at the Ritz are extremely well kept and of course, the service is all first class.
My only comment on the negative side is I HATE what hotels charge for daily parking and feel like it would almost be better to bury that cost in the already very high room price, than to charge an extra $ 40 per night to park a car. Granted, just about every hotel does this so It’s not a complaint I can attribute just to the Ritz, but c’mon people, for $ 40/​day my car should be getting room service!!!

Stayed here after participating in Tough Mudder at Northstar this last June. The showers weren’t working at the Tough Mudder event and so I showed up at the Ritz quite muddy. The staff didn’t bat an eye and checked me and my fiancé in. We went up to the room and I got cleaned up then we we took the Gondola down to the village and had a beer. Afterwards back up to the Ritz and we enjoyed a meal at the Manzanita. Good meal and wonderful atmosphere. I couldn’t sleep well due to the previous days activities and at 0600 we went down to the pool and enjoyed the Jacuzzi and pool. My only regret was we didn’t have more time here. We will definitely be back.
Room was impeccable and staff was friendly and helpful without being intrusive. The property is amazing.

Do I even need to mention how incredibly fancy and ritzy (ha!) the place is? No, I should, but I will.
This place is incredibly fancy and oh-​so ritzy!
Expect nothing more than stellar service here, even if you aren’t a guest. That’ll be me, the non-​guest.
Don’t be alarmed when you drive up to this massive mountain top abode. It’ll give you an Overlook Hotel vibe, but don’t let that stop you from dropping off your mid-​class mid-​sized sedan (I feel so poor…) to the valet only parking and entering. Valet only? Yes, but if you’re not a guest, just get it validated. It’ll drop do $ 5 (which is NOTHING for parking).
We headed off to the bar, offering sweeping views of the Sierra Nevada. Oh so pretty. What goes well with amazing views from an already amazing hotel? An amazing cocktail of course (with that… amazing price tag!).
I had the French 47 and my fiancé had a Bloody Mary. We validated our parking then headed outside to enjoy the weather. There are a few fire-​pits, some random games about, and a pool. Also a poolside café which wasn’t open.
We lounged around for a bit pretending we’re not part of the 99% and just enjoying life.
Apparent around ⁴⁄₅ the have a marshmallowology where the teach you to expertly roast a marshmallow and you enjoy s’mores. For free. Seriously. Will have to do that next time.

This is a 5 five star hotel! This is what customer service should be. Every time I came across an employee it was a hello sir, good afternoon sir, how can I help you sir. They are there for you.
I was lucky enough to have photographed a wedding here in 2012 and the rooms, venue, location, the snow was beautiful! Now, you get what you pay for. This place is NOT cheap, but if you are only getting married once, then this is the place to do it!